


Mindy Flashback Story

by SnowTiefling



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 18:02:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20710241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowTiefling/pseuds/SnowTiefling
Summary: A flashback story for a D&D game I was running. Virthel is property of Umachica and was her character in the game





	Mindy Flashback Story

Mindy wandered back to the Dancing Golem after meeting most of the crew she would be joining in this desperate quest to save a town that she had once called home. She pulled her hat low, shadowing her face. With so many strangers in town perhaps no one would remember her.

“I don’t believe it, it can’t be.” Amnete Ghersyna murmured as she stood in front of Mindy, about to ask her what she needed, good ale, a room, or food. “It is! Girl take your hat off and give ol’ Amnete a hug!” Mindy sighed and peeked at the woman from under the brim of her hat “Thanks auntie, I was trying to be discreet.” She smiled though, and with a shake of her head she dropped her hat on the inn’s bar and leaned forward “It’s good to see you again Auntie Gher.”

A round of interested whispers welcomed the back of the bard as she sighed, just the smell of the Dancing Golem brought back good memories of meat pies and dancing and ol’ Amnete trying to put everything right when the Millers and then the Dalesons and others went missing or had their crops blighted or worse, always keeping a smile on her face. It was taking its toll on her, Mindy could tell now. She had seen more of this world than perhaps any in this room. “Milk please, Auntie, and a sweetbread if you have some. Yours is still the best I’ve tasted from here to the Grand Temple.” this last she said loud enough for the entire common room to hear, feeling the urge to perform in her blood. True to form, the small crowd quieted as she spun around, moving her lute into position.

“Mindy Lou you’ve been to the Grand Temple?” asked one man in the crowd. She nodded and smiled “Gerrald no one’s called me Mindy Lou since I left this town 3 years ago. But yes, I’ve been to the Grand Temple and beyond.” She smiled, fingers trailing along the strings of her lute creating a few stray notes. She let them linger in the air, making the audience want more.

And they did, she could tell. A sly smile on her lips as she let her fingers trail up and down the strings as they willed “Well, tell us about it then.” Another demanded, gruffly. But she could tell, he was covering for his own curiosity and trying not to sound like he was begging. “Marthin, be patient. I have been on the road for weeks, rushing to get here to meet with Pyam on official Temple business, I need good food and fresh cold milk to refresh me before I can start storytelling. You wouldn’t want me to leave out any details or forget now would you?” She winked and turned and nodded to Amnete, who just smiled at her. Amnete new the game, after all wandering minstrels and innkeepers had to have an understanding. Aunty Amnete had always known Mindy was a strange one, but something had changed in the girl since she left, and only Amnete had sense enough to feel it. This was going to be special.

Mindy took her time and savored the taste of the sweet bread, she had not lied at all. There was something special about her aunts cooking, even if it the only extra ingredient was her own nostalgia. The common room waited, eager to hear what one of their own had seen and done since leaving. Finally wiping away the last of the milk from her upper lip Mindy got down to the real business.

“You all want to know what I’ve been doing since I left Mylta all those years ago.” a chord on her lute, strummed without thinking “Well, I remember when Auntie told me I was a wild child, said it was in my blood.” Many of the boys (now men, grown up now and bearing the signs of years toiling in the sun) she had grown up with and several of the waitresses nodded, smiles on their faces. “She must have been right. I left here with nothing but a dagger and good pair of walking boots and my music. And a crazy dream to go out and do something. Anything other than sit here and marry and have babies.” She laughed, the music from her lute echoing her mirth.

“You would'a made a fine wife” another man piped up, a grin on his face. “To who, you Jaegan? Oh, don’t think I’ve forgotten how you chased me, trying to get under my skirts. And you weren’t the only one.” Her eyes swept the crowd “Oh I count half a dozen of you here that I let chase me, but not a one of you could tame me or keep up with me at the dances. Your feet were too slow, and your hands were too fast for a lady like me.” Some laughed, some blushed and drank deep from their cups “But you don’t want to here about what you already know do you? No no no” her lute echoed her no’s without hesitation “You want to hear about the Grand Temple, and the dragon I slew.”

This was met with laughter “Girl you didn’t slay a dragon. No way no how." Marthin called out to a chorus of agreement. "Oh?” she almost purred, reaching down into her bag to produce one thick red scale, as big as her hand. “This is one of the beasts scales, plucked from its corpse. And this lute I carry is from its horde, taken after the fire-belchers demise.”

“Liar, you found that scale on the ground somewhere. And that lute ain't nothing but a bit of string and wood.” Some in the crowd still called agreement. Mindy shook her head and slid nimbly from her seat. “Call me a liar then, do all of you? Think my tongue moves to falsehood, weaving the spider’s web to impress you?” Some nodded, others looked unsure. “Think a pretty girl can’t be a dragon slayer, and should just warm your lap on a cold night, or keep food in yer bellies?” Fewer nodded now, others made warding signs against Llolth’s prying eyes at the mention of the spiders web. “Fools. Alyssya, attend please.” with that a tiny mote of light sprang from the deep hood of her patchwork cloak, a tiny mote of light that soon revealed the female shape within.

“She’s got a bloody fairy with her…” one of the barmaids whispered.

“The straps please Alyssya.” she whispered, her outraged half genuine and half mock, part of the show yet part of the reason why she had left this town to begin with. Nimbly the glowing pixie began to tug and pull at the straps holding Mindy’s leather armor on, unashamed even as a few of the men had lusty eyes at the thought of her without armor. Her leathers were dusty as they hit the floor, and a thin layer of sweat still stained her shirt underneath. Cursing, in a most unlady like (but very “adventuring bard-like”) fashion she glared at her once neighbors and kin “Do you think I found these on the side of the road too?” she said, lifting up the hem of her shirt to her ribs, revealing freckled white skin marred only in 4 places by long, ragged scars, the claw marks of some fearsome beast that mast have nearly ripped her in two.

No one said anything, but several of her doubters shook their heads. Dropping her shirt, and with her familiar, bound in blood and magic to the soul of this young bard, perched on her shoulder daintily. She picked up her lute and let it settle into place “Who wants to hear about the Grand Temple and how I slew a dragon?” she asked quietly, the sly smile tugging at the corners of her mouth once again.

The crowd hardly noticed the entrance of Virthel, but Amnete attended to her herself, content to let her barmaids enjoy a story from one of their own people. Mindy glanced at the warden, granting her a small nod even as a few of the villagers nodded or called out for her to continue her story.

“Well then. Where to begin.” Mindy said, getting comfortable on her barstool once again, her fingers began to pick at the strings of her lute, the music light and hopeful. “I left here 3 years ago to see more of the world, to learn more, and yes to come back and one day help Mylta regain lost Al’thair.” The music took a sudden down turn to sadness as she sighed, head bowed. It slowly picked back up as she continued, notes becoming more cheerful “I wandered the road to Fallcrest and beyond.” A few of the townsfolk nodded. “It was beyond Fallcrest that I found new friends. Thalnar, a surprise really. A tiefling in service to Avandra, his sword and shield ever there to protect the weak.” There was a dangerous muttering in the crowd, murmurs of devilspawn and worse. Mindy frowned and plucked a discordant note on her lute hushing the crowd with her glare “Yes a tiefling, with a good heart. If it wasn’t for his effort I wouldn’t still be standing today. And also the twins Ayissa and Syanvaras, wild elves. Ayissa was a hunter, her bow true and strong. Syanvara danced with her swords with such grace. We four journeyed through the wilds to another small town like this one, and there we learned of their plight. The tribe of violent spite-filled kobolds had taken up a lair in the rocky hills, and had grown more bold and greedy. Traders had been robbed and murdered, they were scared. Surely, the four of us were enough to take care of their small problem?” The lutes music mocks her words, then turns ominous as her voice drops low, making the room lean forward “Small problem indeed. Kobolds, yes there were kobolds. Dozens of them. And we fought through them all. Thalnar with his long sword high, protecting us with the blessings of Avandra. Ayissa’s arrows striking swiftly even as her sister leapt and spun, her blades a blur as they spilled kobold blood.”

“What did you do?” Called out Marthin, his voice a little mocking. Mindy locked him down with a stare. “Me? Oh, not much. I just used magic to rattle and distract and to knit together my friends wounds. Not much at all really.” Her lute lets out a few notes that seem, different somehow, each one seems full of power and the crowd lets out a small gasp, each person feeling more relaxed and peaceful all at once, as the aches of a days worth of toil and work vanish in a few seconds. A small mischievous smile tugs at the corner of Mindy’s lips as she continues with her story “The kobolds were dangerous, yes. But we weren’t prepared for the driving force behind their raiding. A young red dragon, hungry and greedy and full of fury and fire.”

The music takes on an urgent tone “We were tired, and sore from the kobolds spears and traps, but we had no time to retreat and regroup. With a roar that shook us to our core the beast charged us as we entered its lair. Thalnar barely managed to deflect its jaws with his shield, his voice calling out to Avandra for her blessings as he challenged it to face him or feel his wrath. Syanvara circled around, but her swords swept too high as the beast lowered its haunches, its tail whipping about to knock her against the wall. Ayissa’s shout of fear for her sister echoed in my very soul as I reached out with my magic to distract the dragon. Thalnar pushed the beast back, through sheer force of will it seemed as we scrambled into its lair, surrounding it. Syanvara regained her feet. The dragons chest expanded as it turned, and the room filled with fire even as Avandra’s fury burned it on behalf of our paladin. Syanvara dove and pulled me to my feet just in time to avoid the worst of the dragons breath, and Ayissa managed to duck behind a bit of rock.”

The music is tense as the bard talks, her eyes are half closed as she remembers her voice low and filled with emotion. The room is silent “The fight was desperate; we came close to defeat so many times. The arrows and blades of the twins whittled away at the dragon's scales, tiny rivulets of blood from a dozen wounds, my magic twisted its mind, Thalnar keeping the beasts rage focused on him as best as he could with the magic of the gods.” She sighs and the music turns even darker “The beast was almost dead, my magic waning, when it lunged at me. It had almost killed Ayissa with a vicious bite and it recognized my hand in her survival. It sought to remove me from the fight so it could more easily slay my friends. Its claws almost ripped me in half, and as I fell the world went black. I thought I was going to die, but I opened my eyes to see Thalnar standing over my body, he had granted me some of his life in order to keep me from death's door. As the dragon tried to bite down on his shield I used the last of my magic to attack its mind and it fell, unmoving, to the floor. We took no chances; we made sure it was dead before we did anything else.” The music ends slowly, as her fingers caress the wood of her lute, remembering the fight. Remembering how gentle Thalnar’s fingers had been when he bound her wounds later. And how gentle his hand was when she had taken it in hers, whispering to him that he would never tame her. And his reply that he would not think to try. She loses herself in reverie for a moment. “We parted ways at the grand temple, Thalnar and the twins had to head north, I was needed here.” She says sadly.

“That is how I got these scars, and if you still don’t believe me then I will give you a map to the village where its skull sits above the bar, and they can tell you.”


End file.
